BRAZIL 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP SPECIAL
G
GERMANY,PORTUGAL,GHANA,USA
RONALDO FACTOR: Portugal are thankful
for having the world’s best player in their ranks.
most imperious. The Koreans were the
surprise package of the tournament, having
advanced from the group stage thanks to a
shock 1-0 win over Italy. Next up was
Portugal, with the winners reward being a
place in the semi-finals against England.
Few gave Korea a hope before the game,
believing they had already over-reached
their potential in the tournament.
But the 51,000 in attendance at
Goodison Park were stunned when after
just 25 minutes the Koreans were 3-0 up.
The Liverpool crowd were loving it,
preferring a meeting with the Koreans for
their beloved England, rather than Portugal.
Yet it wasn't to be, thanks to the exploits of
Eusébio (the eventual Golden Boot winner)
who was in the form of his life. He hit back
with four goals before José Augusto made
sure of the win with the fifth on 80 minutes.
LOW POINT: Portugal entered their
away fixture against Luxembourg in 1961
still with a decent chance of qualifying. They
still had to play England away afterwards,
but a win in both games would ensure a
play-off with a spot at Chile '62 at stake.
More to the point, they were about to unveil
Eusebio, who was to make his debut in
Luxembourg. Even despite his glittering
career, the start of it is often ignored. This is
because, in the most shocking World Cup
qualifying result ever, Luxembourg won 4-2.
Prior to this match they had lost every single
World Cup game they had entered. But they
roared into a 4-0 lead with Ady Schmidt
netting a hat-trick. Two late goals gave the
Portuguese a modicum of credence, but
even so it was a shocking result.
Luxembourg have only won three World
Cup matches in nearly 80 years, including
the recent away win in Switzerland; and
have lost against such minnows as the
Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein. That
makes this result even more shocking.
PORTUGAL
Ronaldo-inspired Lusitanians raring to win
BRIEFLY: It is incredible to think that
with the class of talent Portugal have
enjoyed over the years, they have only
been present at five World Cups. Indeed,
if not for the magic of one Cristiano
Ronaldo, the Lusitanians may well have
been sitting out Brazil 2014 as well. But
once at the finals, Portugal tend to make a
splash. Two semi-final appearances
(1966 and 2006) and a run of four
consecutive qualifications suggest the
future is bright for the nation.
MISSION: It would be disingenuous to
say Portugal are a one-man team, but
realistically the form and fitness of Cristiano
Ronaldo will determine how far they
advance. His brilliance masks the
continued lack of a top-class conventional
striker and there have been too many
laboured team displays since they were
beaten on penalties by Spain in their Euro
2012 semi-final.
PREPARATION: For the second time
in succession Portugal had to go through
the play-offs in order to advance to the
world finals. Reprising their aggregate
defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the
road to South Africa 2010, the Portuguese
saw off Sweden 4-2 over two legs to book
their place at Brazil 2014. Their hero of the
hour was none other than Cristiano
Ronaldo, who scored all four of their goals
against the Swedes to round off a
STAR
CRISTIANO RONALDO: It can
MAN only be Ronaldo. Now 28, he is at
the peak of his considerable powers
- a supreme athlete and exquisite
technician. The brilliant Real Madrid forward
dragged his country to Brazil almost singlehandedly. Ronaldo is the type of player who can
beat teams on his own, as he displayed back in
November when his stunning hat-trick sent
Portugal to the World Cup at Sweden's
expense. If Ronaldo could lead his country to
World Cup glory in Brazil this summer, he would
become one of the indisputable all-time greats
Bento’s side.
They began their bid to reach their sixth
FIFA World Cup as the favourites to win
Group F, having made the semi-finals of
UEFA EURO 2012, where they lost on
penalties to Spain. And though they held
their own against Russia, losing in Moscow
but winning the return fixture in Lisbon, the
Portuguese had to settle for second place in
the section after surprise draws at home to
Northern Ireland and home and away to
Israel. That left them with no
option but to take the play-off
COACH
route again, but in a duel that PAUL BENTO: Paulo Bento took
pitted together two of the charge in September 2010, 10
world’s best players, Ronaldo months after resigning from Sporting
got the better of Zlatan Lisbon where he won four domestic
Ibrahimovic, the scorer of his cups in six years.
side’s two goals, to
STRONGEST LINE-UP
guide the Portuguese
Rui Patricio
safely to Brazil. They
further prepared for the
Pepe
Bruno
Mundial with a 5-1
Pereira
Alves
demolition of
Cameroon.
Meireles
HIGH POINT: On two
Veloso
Moutinho
occasions, teams have
come back from three
Postiga
goals down. Austria did
it against Switzerland in
Nani
C. Ronaldo
1954, but it is Portugal's
comeback against
Korea DPR in 1966 that
FORMATION: 4-3-3
KEY
MAN
JAO MOUTINHO: Monaco's
Joao Moutinho was a great help
in Poland and Ukraine two
years ago and if he finds that kind of form
again Portugal could go far. Moutinho, who
had interested Manchester United and
Spurs, has 55 times Portugal caps and
joined Porto, who won a third consecutive
league title on Sunday, from Sporting
Lisbon in July 2010.
KEY
MAN
WILLIAM CARVALHO: High
hopes that the tough tackling Angola
born midfielder, at 21, is the leader of
a new generation. Porto ace won
his first senior cap in the play-offs after
appearing at every youth level. Carvalho is
rep